This is helix design with lilac and pastel green shades suspended in a clear base. The actual colors are odd as green is typically used to ease redness and lilac to brighten skin so combining the two…mmm seemed odd?

But hey I trust in the “Smart Shade” technology that will adjust to my skin tone and turn into my perfect shade of primer. Mmm yeah not so much. This squirts out and blends out to a rather gross shade of green however the good news is it absorbs easily and has a transparent finish.

Technically, it isn’t actually aiding anything in regards to brightening your skin or easing redness, etc….that’s a bust. On the upside it has a smooth, hydrating feel and the finish is dewy to the touch so if you have drier skin you’ll enjoy the feel of this. It creates a nice, smooth surface for your base products however I didn’t notice any extension in the wear time of my foundation/bb creams.

So…

What it doesn’t do…

Blur fine lines and pores.

Correct skin tone by easing redness or brightening up skin.

Extend the wear of your foundation.

What it does do….

Hydrates skin and preps for makeup.

Seems the “doesn’t” outweighs the “does” in this case and at $14.99 yes, you read it right, $14.99 (at CVS) it’s an absolutely unnecessary purchase.

P.S. It smells like corn chips! Not nice.

Sadly, Almay Smart Shade Perfect & Correct Primer has some potential if you have drier skin but doesn’t actually do anything outside of offering a hydrating surface for makeup. So you have to ask yourself what’s the point of spending near $20 on something that performs to poorly?

Skip it.

Save your money for something else.

Disclosure:

I reviewed Stila’s swirly primer, the forerunner and, I believe, inspiration for this stuff you’re reviewing here. And it was just as pointless– it had a peach swirl in it in addition to the green and lavender, turned a revolting gray color, and did nothing it claimed– for like $34, a crazy price for something that does nothing.

Until technology improves, I think we’ll just have to accept that some things cannot be reduced to a one-step process

I’m going to disagree with you on this one. The formulation reminded me of the Stila Correcting Primer. I have both the Stila and the Almay primers (I also happen to have oily skin) and they are great primers.